


Chronology

by GalaxyOwl



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Post-S2 Finale, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 15:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7227421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl/pseuds/GalaxyOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam's trip takes her somewhere unexpected, although not unfamiliar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chronology

**Author's Note:**

> everything's okay everything's fine don't worry about it

This could not be happening, this wasn't how this was supposed to go, Sam didn’t know what to do and she was—she was—

She was somewhere else. Somewhen else, presumably. In front of was a field—farmland, it looked like?—but she couldn't begin to place the time period. She stared at the landscape, searching for some meaning.

She thought back to her present day.

Immediately a wave of guilt crashed over her. Dr. Bright—Dr. Bryant? _Joan_ —had probably  been worried sick about her brother. And then Sam went and disappeared again, when she needed her. Because even after all this time she couldn't control this _thing_ inside of her, couldn’t do anything right when it actually counted. Maybe if she'd had better control earlier, if she hadn't rushed so much in her explanation to Mark, if she’d done something differently, if she’d just _told_ him earlier like she was supposed to, maybe then he...

“Sam!"

She froze. She should turn around, find out who had spoken, but the knowledge that her first guess was wrong—that it wasn’t Mark, had to be some coincidence of naming—almost stopped her.

Sam took a deep breath and turned.

“Mark?” she said. It was something near a sob. 

She took a step towards him, through the yellowing plants, still not quite believing what she saw. Because there he was, looking the same as ever, ridiculous period clothing and all. (Was that significant? That he wasn’t wearing real, modern clothes?)

“Mark,” she said, “what are you doing here? How did you—why did you come back?”

"What are you talking about?” he said. “I’m here. Same as always.”

“No," Sam said. "We—we got you out. You were home, you were safe, but then everything went wrong, and—and—Mark, I'm real, I am, I have to be, you believe me, right?”

“Yes, I believe you, but are you okay?” He moved to put a hand on her shoulder, and Sam winced as it went right through her like so much wind. Mark shook his head. "What happened?"

Was he being serious? Did he not remember, or… Or what? Was he pretending? She didn’t think he would do that. It wouldn’t make sense.

“You were there,” she said. “We got you home.”

"No, you didn’t." “Sam, the last time I saw you was days ago. You told me about your cat, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," she said. Because she did. But from her perspective, that particular trip had been _weeks_ ago. The last time she's managed to get to Mark's time, before...

Oh. Oh _no_.

"Did I..." This was ridiculous. "Did I time travel? I mean, obviously I time traveled, but I think... I think I made it back to before the last time we talked!"

“Wait,” Mark said, “so what you were talking about earlier—that happened? Will happen?"

"I think so?" Sam said. "Honestly, this is... not something I’ve ever had to deal with before? I’ve These… issues of chronology or—or paradoxes. I'm not sure how… God, do you think something terrible will happen because I caused a paradox? I don't know what I would..."

"I didn't mention this conversation to you, right?" Mark said. "The last time you saw me?"

Sam shook her head.

"So you haven't really caused a paradox yet."

"I mean, I guess not." Sam sighed. "I guess if you just... Do the same things I heard you doing, then it works out? But then that creates some sort of weird time loop, and I really don't want to begin to think about how that works."

"Then don't," Mark said. “I have plenty of time to think about the weird workings of time. It only ends in headache.”

Sam smiled. Maybe it wasn’t good advice, but it made her feel better. And it was nice to talk to him again. 

Her thoughts circled back again to the sound of Mark's voice from the car bug, confused and uncertain, asking with desperation whether or not Sam was real.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said. "About your sister.” She could do this. She could tell him. This was her second chance, and she was going to get things right this time.

"My sister?" He sounded confused. That was fair, Sam supposed.

It all tumbled out at once: "I've been working with her. Since before I met you, actually. She's my therapist, or she was. She’s been trying to find you, for so long, and when I told her I’d found you she was so excited except I forgot to tell you about her and then I just didn’t know how and it ended in disaster.”

“She was trying to find me?”

“She was.”

It took a few more rounds of back-and-forth questioning before Mark had anything resembling a full understanding of the situation. 

"But now you know all of this," Sam said, mostly to herself. "Then why did you tell Damien you didn’t? That’s in my past but it’s in _your_ future, then…” Sam thought about it again: his words, his confusion, her terror. "Unless," she said, "it was because we'd already had this conversation, and you knew that was what already happened, and so you played along until the recorder cut out, so you didn't cause a paradox."

"Does that work?" Mark said.

"I don't know," Sam admitted, "but it has to be worth a shot, right?”

“And then I’ll be home?”

“I hope so. I think—“

Sam blinked, and the field and the plants and Mark were all gone. She was back in Dr. Bright's apartment. She didn’t know how much time had passed.

"Sam?" Joan said. "Are you okay? Where did you go?"

Sam took a moment to readjust to her surroundings, to the feeling of existing physically again. “I’m fine,” she said. “But, Dr. Bright—I saw him. I saw Mark. I think everything's going to be okay."


End file.
